Hair accessory and method of manufacture thereof

ABSTRACT

A hair accessory has a helical elastic band that forms a closed circle. The hair accessory also has a weft having a hair retention member and a plurality of strands that extend from the strand retention member. The weft is spirally wrapped around the elastic band so that the weft completely encases the helical elastic band and allows the helical elastic band to move between an enlarged configuration and a contracted configuration. The helical elastic band is biased to the contracted configuration.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to hair accessories. More specifically, the present invention relates to hair accessories to supplement a wearer's natural hair.

BACKGROUND

Throughout history, hair accessories have been used to supplement a wearer's natural hair. Supplementing a wearer's natural hair allows for an impression of a fuller head of hair, and the additional hair may allow for a wider variety of hair styles.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention. It is not intended to identify critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented elsewhere.

In one embodiment, a hair accessory includes a helical elastic band forming a closed circle and a weft having a strand retention member and a plurality of hair strands extending from the strand retention member. The weft is spirally wrapped around the helical elastic band in a manner that completely encases the helical elastic band that allows the elastic band to move between an enlarged configuration and a contracted configuration. The helical elastic band is biased to the contracted configuration.

In another embodiment, a hair accessory has a coiled elastic band forming a closed loop, a plurality of strands, and a strand retention member. The elastic band is movable between a contracted configuration and an expanded configuration, and an interior perimeter of the elastic band at the contracted configuration is smaller than an interior perimeter of the elastic band at the expanded configuration. The elastic band has uniform coils, and each coil has a center point and a diameter. A distance between the center points of at least two adjacent coils changes as the elastic band moves between the contracted and expanded configurations. Each of the strands has a proximal end and a distal end, and the strand retention member secures the strands. Each strand proximal end is coupled to the strand retention member, and each strand distal end extends freely away from the strand retention member in a common direction. The strand retention member is spirally wrapped around the elastic band, forming spirals completely encasing and conforming to the coils, and the strand retention member forms a closed loop.

In still another embodiment, a method for fabricating a hair accessory includes the steps of attaching a plurality of hair strands to a strand retention member to form a weft and spirally wrapping the weft around a helical elastic band.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of part of a hair accessory according to an embodiment of the current invention, with some hair strands omitted for illustration.

FIG. 2 is a front view of an elastic band of the hair accessory of FIG. 1, with an enlarged configuration shown in dashed lines.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a portion of a weft of the hair accessory of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the hair accessory of FIG. 1, with some hair strands shown in black and other hair strands shown in white for illustration.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A hair accessory 100 is provided to be worn by a user to create the impression of a fuller head of hair. As shown in FIG. 1, the hair accessory 100 includes an elastic band 120 and a weft 140 having a strand retention member 150 and a plurality of strands 160 that extend from the strand retention member 150. A portion of the weft 140 is illustrated in FIG. 1 without strands 160 to show that the weft 140 is spirally wrapped around the elastic band 120. In some embodiments, the weft 140 may completely encase the elastic band 120 such that the band 120 is not seen. The elastic band 120 is biased toward a contracted configuration 120 a, and can move between the contracted configuration 120 a and an expanded configuration 120 b (shown in phantom in FIG. 2).

As shown in FIG. 2, the elastic band 120 is a helical closed loop having a plurality of coils 122, and is generally shaped like a toroidal spring. The elastic band 120 is generally circular and has an outer surface 126, a center point 128, and an interior perimeter 130. The elastic band 120 may, for example, have between twenty and fifty coils 122. Each coil 122 has a center point 124 and a diameter. The coils 122 may be generally uniform in size and generally equidistant from adjacent coils 122.

The elastic band 120 is biased to the contracted configuration 120 a, but can be stretched to the enlarged configuration 120 b. In the contracted configuration 120 a, the elastic band 120 may, for example, have a diameter between one half and three inches; and in the expanded configuration 120 b, the elastic band 120 may have a diameter that is at least twice the diameter of the elastic band 120 in the contracted configuration 120 a. Further, the interior perimeter 130 of the elastic band 120 is smaller when in the contracted configuration 120 a than when in the expanded configuration 120 b. As the elastic band 120 moves between the contracted configuration 120 a and the expanded configuration 120 b, a distance between the center point 124 of two adjacent coils 122 changes as well; the distance between the coils 122 increases as the elastic band 120 is stretched to the expanded configuration 120 b and decreases as the elastic band 120 returns to the contracted configuration 120 a. The elastic band 120 may be stretched to a configuration that is larger than the contracted configuration 120 a but not as large as the enlarged configuration 120 b, and can be used in the variable configurations between the contracted configuration 120 a and the enlarged configuration 120 b as well.

As shown in FIG. 3, the weft 140 includes the strand retention member 150 and the plurality of hair strands 160. The weft 140 has opposed ends that are coupled together to form a continuous loop, and the plurality of hair strands 160 are coupled to the strand retention member 150. Each strand in the plurality of hair strands 160 has a proximal end 162 and a distal end 164, and in some embodiments, the proximal ends 162 are created by folding a strand over (e.g., in half)—in effect creating two distal ends 164 for each proximal end 162. The distance between the proximal and distal ends 162, 164 may be, for example, between three inches and ten inches. The plurality of hair strands 160 may be synthetic hair or natural hair, or a combination of synthetic hair and natural hair. The proximal ends 162 are coupled to the strand retention member 150 (e.g. by threading, adhesive, etc.), and the strands 160 extend away from the strand retention member 150 in a common direction. In some embodiments, the strands 160 extend arcuately away from the strand retention member 150.

The strand retention member 150 may have a ribbon 152 to which the plurality of strands 160 are coupled, such as through any appropriate threading and/or adhesive (whether now known or later discovered). The strand retention member 150 has a top 154 and a bottom 156, and it may be desirable for the plurality of strands 160 to not extend above the top 154. The strand retention member 150 may, in various embodiments, be elastic or inelastic.

As shown in FIG. 1, the strand retention member 150 may be spirally wrapped around the elastic band 120. More specifically, the strand retention member 150 may be wrapped around the coils 122 of the elastic band 120. The strand retention member 150 is wrapped so that the strand retention member 150 conforms to the coils 122, and the strand retention member 150 may be continually wrapped around the elastic band 120 such that it forms a closed loop. The strand retention member 150 and the plurality of hair strands 160 may thus completely encase the outer surface 126 of the elastic band 120.

The strand retention member 150 may be spirally wrapped around the elastic band 120 in a uniform manner. In one embodiment, the strand retention member 150 is uniformly wrapped around the elastic band 120 such that the strand retention member 150 overlaps itself. Spirally wrapping the strand retention member 150 around the coils 122 may create a double spiral: a first spiral defined by the strand retention member 150 spirally wrapping around the elastic band 120, and a second spiral defined by the spiral shape of the band 120. This double spiral configuration may increase an amount of strands per square inch when compared to a hair accessory containing only a single spiral. Nevertheless, with the plurality of strands 160 extending outwardly from the strand retention member 150 in a common direction, the hair strands 160 may not pass through the center point 128 of the elastic band 120 (FIG. 4). This leaves an aperture for easily passing a wearer's hair therethrough and does not direct the strands 160 where they would be of little use.

During fabrication of the hair accessory 100, the plurality of hair strands 160 are attached to the strand retention member 150 to form a weft 140. And 140 is then spirally wrapped around the helical elastic band 120 as described above.

Many different arrangements are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Embodiments of the present invention are described herein with the intent to be illustrative rather than restrictive. Alternative embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art that do not depart from its scope. A skilled artisan may develop alternative means of implementing the disclosed improvements without departing from the scope of the present invention. Further, it will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations and are contemplated within the scope of the invention. The description should not be restricted to the specific described embodiments. 

1. A hair accessory, comprising: a helical elastic band forming a closed circle; and a weft having a strand retention member and a plurality of hair strands extending from the strand retention member, the weft spirally wrapped around the helical elastic band in a manner that completely encases the helical elastic band and allows the helical elastic band to move between an enlarged configuration and a contracted configuration, the helical elastic band being biased to the contracted configuration.
 2. The hair accessory of claim 1, wherein the strand retention member is inelastic.
 3. The hair accessory of claim 1, wherein the plurality of strands are threaded to the strand retention member.
 4. The hair accessory of claim 1, wherein the weft has opposed ends that are coupled together to form a continuous loop.
 5. The hair accessory of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of strands is between four inches and ten inches.
 6. The hair accessory of claim 1, wherein the elastic band has a diameter between one half and three inches when at the contracted configuration.
 7. The hair accessory of claim 1, wherein the weft is wrapped around the coils in the elastic band in a uniform manner.
 8. A hair accessory, comprising: a coiled elastic band forming a closed loop; said elastic band being movable between a contracted configuration and an expanded configuration, an interior perimeter of said elastic band at said contracted configuration being smaller than an interior perimeter of said elastic band at said expanded configuration; said elastic band having uniform coils, each said coil having a center point and a diameter, a distance between said center points of at least two adjacent said coils changing as said elastic band moves between said contracted and expanded configurations; a plurality of strands, each strand having a proximal end and a distal end; and a strand retention member securing the strands, each said strand proximal end being coupled to said strand retention member, each said strand distal end extending freely away from said strand retention member in a common direction; wherein said strand retention member is spirally wrapped around said elastic band, forming spirals completely encasing and conforming to said coils, said strand retention member forming a closed loop.
 9. The hair accessory of claim 8, wherein said strand retention member is inelastic.
 10. The hair accessory of claim 8, wherein said strand retention member is spirally wrapped around said elastic band such that said strand retention member overlaps itself.
 11. The hair accessory of claim 8, wherein said strand retention member is spirally wrapped in a uniform manner.
 12. The hair accessory of claim 8, wherein a diameter of said elastic band at said contracted configuration is between one half inch and three inches.
 13. The hair accessory of claim 12, wherein said diameter of said elastic band at said expanded configuration is at least two times said diameter of said elastic band in said contracted configuration.
 14. The hair accessory of claim 8, wherein said elastic band is biased to said contracted configuration.
 15. The hair accessory of claim 8, wherein said closed loop has a center point, and wherein said hair strands do not pass through said center point of said closed loop.
 16. The hair accessory of claim 8, wherein said plurality of strands extend arcuately from said strand retention member.
 17. A method for fabricating a hair accessory, comprising: attaching a plurality of hair strands to a strand retention member to form a weft; and spirally wrapping the weft around a helical elastic band.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the elastic band is biased towards a contracted state.
 19. The method of claim 17, wherein the elastic band forms a closed circle having a center point, wherein the hair strands do not pass through the center point.
 20. The method of claim 17, wherein the weft has opposed ends that are coupled together to form a continuous loop. 